MANCHESTER is set to become a world leader in cancer research thanks to a £22m research centre that can detect disease earlier and even track drugs inside tumours.

Work has started on The Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, at Christie Hospital, in Withington, to house equipment that can track cancer drugs inside tumours and create three-diamensional images.

Special harmless molecules are injected into a patient's blood which act like a tracking device and map the movement and activity of cancer treatment drugs.

A scanner then creates a three-dimensional image of the drugs inside the tumour showing if the treatment is working and allowing doctors to stop it if it is not. It also shows how much of a new drug reaches the cancer and how it works.

The Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, due to open in spring 2003, will be part of Manchester University.

World renowned specialist Professor Pat Price will be director of the centre. She said: "This new centre will enable us to undertake ground-breaking research, draw interest from around the world and, most importantly, benefit patients. It promises to be an institute of unrivalled excellence and is great news for Manchester.

"Although cancer research studies begin in the laboratory, they must be translated into research in people with cancer. The research carried out in this centre will significantly advance the understanding of cancer and its treatment.

"The technology will also be extended to help other patients in the North West with diseases such as stroke and psychiatric illness."

Dr Trevor Hince, Cancer Research UK's Director of Research Management and Planning said: "The new centre will reinforce Manchester's status as one of the world's leading players in cancer research.

"Its work will allow us to build up a detailed picture of how cancer develops and the way that drugs tackle it inside the body, speeding up the process of developing more effective treatments."

The centre has been two-and-a-half years in the planning and is being funded by the Wolfson Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the Christie Hospital Trust Charitable Fund and Manchester University.

The major equipment is being provided by the Government's North West Science Initiative and will be funded jointly by the Medical Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The four-storey building will house state-of-the-art specialised chemistry laboratories, clinical research scanning suites, pharmacology laboratories and data processing areas.